Catania Attractions

Venue: Mount Etna    When: Daily

Europe's biggest volcano (at 10,920 feet high), Etna has long been a mystery to scientists, and has erupted again very recently, but don't let that deter you from a visit to this beautiful part of Sicily.

If you're pushed for time, the best way to glimpse Etna's spitting apex is by way of the Circumetnea railway, which also takes you through the medieval villages (built from the volcanic lava of earlier eruptions) which encircle the volcano's lower reaches. But if you want to take the day that Etna deserves, go for a climb to the lower craters. It is possible to drive up to 2500m and then hike from there -be sure to take the road to Milo if you can, where recent lava flows decimated the forests and barns in their path. It is eerily dramatic.

It is prohibited to ascend to the top crater, so the fearful will cope okay. Cable cars can replace legs if need be, and during the winter it is even possible to ski!